A Strange Summer
by shadowcaster01
Summary: Sarah just wanted to find out what was wrong. The answer she received was nothing like she imagined...


_Hey everyone!_

_This was done in response to a few challenges on HPFC. The details are listed below…_

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Sarah sagged in her seat outside her favorite busy café. The heat was unbearable, and she almost swore that she would melt because of it. She tapped her foot impatiently, glancing at her watch. He was late. Her cousin promised Sarah that he'd meet her here, and she'd even taken time off of work to see him. It'd been so long since he dropped by, what with his mysterious school and all…

He was hardly ever around, becoming more and more secretive as time went by. He barely even answered her phone calls anymore. She often found herself wondering where he was, or what he was up to all the time. Maybe he landed himself in trouble? She hoped not; he had always been so dependable before.

Would he even show up today? She hoped so, although Sarah was about ready to just give up and go home. The summer heat was beginning to get at her, and she was grouchy enough with all the crowds ambling around the streets lately. Sarah pulled out a pocket sized notepad from her purse, waving it in front of her face like a fan. It didn't do much, but at least it was better than nothing.

What was taking him so long? Sarah glanced around, but all she could see was the clutter of tables and chairs nearby, occupied by other diners. Apart from that, there was a clear view of the main road, overcrowded with passersby. It was loud and obnoxious, and she was nearing her last nerve. Maybe she should call him again? The café might have a phone in the back somewhere she could borrow…

"Sarah?"

She jumped at the voice from directly behind her. How did she not notice them creeping up on her? Was she that out of it? Sarah turned around and, sure enough, there stood her cousin. He appeared to be very uncomfortable; had something happened?

"Nathan…" For being startled, Sarah was surprised that she could sound so calm.

"Sorry for being late," he said, grimacing slightly. "I was caught up…"

She frowned, "Anything I should be concerned about?"

He refused to meet her eyes, which raised a few warning bells. The silence wasn't particularly comforting either. Nathan pulled at a seam on the end of his shirt, staring at the ground.

"Nathan?" Sarah called, waving a hand in front of his face. "Look up here, please; at me. You know I hate it when you do that."

"Sorry," he mumbled, finally meeting her gaze.

"Now, will you tell me what happened?" She asked, folding her arms.

"You won't like it," Nathan muttered, sitting down across from her at the table.

She leaned forward. "You don't know that yet."

He leaned back, drumming his fingers on the back of his chair. Sarah narrowly resisted the urge to yank him forward by his shirt; her cousin's fiddling was really irritating, and she was already in a bad mood. She knew he was stalling, and she hated him for it. She couldn't force him to say anything, and they both knew it, which made it worse. Sarah wanted to shake him by the shoulders; he was so annoying at the moment…

Nathan sighed, staring at the table. "There's this group of guys I go to school with," he began. He paused, flicked his gaze back up to Sarah before lowering it again.

"And?" Sarah prompted, resting her elbows up on the table. She searched his face, slightly worried at where this was going.

"They're not particularly pleasant to anyone they don't like, and unfortunately that includes me."

Sarah huffed at that statement. Sure, he was shy, but she doubted that her cousin could do anything that would invite anyone to dislike him that much. There was only one reason she could come up with for it, and she didn't particularly like it.

"What did they do?"

Nathan flinched, and Sarah knew she was right. She buried her head in her hands, exasperated; of course Nathan would end up being picked on by schoolyard bullies, who else would do such a thing to her timid cousin? He wasn't the type to actively pick a fight. She looked back over to him.

"Look at me," she said, slapping her hands down. Nathan started at the harsh tones in her voice, but he complied with her nonetheless. "Answer me this," Sarah continued, staring him down. "Are you being bullied?"

He gulped, eyes wide, and nodded. Sarah sighed resignedly, slumping in her seat. Great, now what should she do? Sarah had never had problems with such things when she was in high school, and she had a feeling that her aunt was unaware of what was going on. Should she be the one to tell her, or maybe she should convince Nathan to do it? The only thing she knew was that someone had to know; otherwise her cousin would continue to be victimized. Too bad she didn't attend his school, or else she would march right up to those boys and give them a piece of her mind. Although, by the looks of it, Nathan might not appreciate her doing that for him. But, what else could she do?

"Have you told Kate, yet?" Sarah may as well find out where this stands.

"No," he replied, regarding his hands. "Mum would go ballistic if she found out. You know how she gets about me." Nathan twiddled his thumbs, as if just that could help everything.

"What about your school?"

He shook his head, refusing to look at her. Nathan drummed his fingers on the table instead; there was no real rhythm to it, but it annoyed her anyway. She grabbed at his hands, which had him staring at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Nathan," she sighed, releasing his hands, patience running thin. "Someone has to know. How else are you going to fix this?" He shrugged. "That's not an answer; besides, you haven't even told me what they did to you in the first place."

His gaze dropped again. "I can't," he croaked. "I just can't."

"Why not?" Sarah demanded. "Did they threaten you?" Nathan shook his head again. "Well, why can't you tell me, then?"

"I'm not allowed," he mumbled, so quiet she could barely hear him.

"What do you mean, not allowed?" Sarah snapped. "I'm your cousin, you can tell me anything!"

Nathan covered his face with his hands. "Not this," he whispered. "Not this."

"Yes you can!" She snatched his hands away, glaring at him as she did so.

"I'll get in trouble."

"No, you won't!" She waved her hands up angrily. "Why would you get in trouble for telling me about bullying? That's ridiculous, and you know it!"

He sighed, burying his face in his arms on the table. "You wouldn't believe me, anyway…"

Sarah stared at him. "What? Why?"

"You just won't."

"Try me; I've heard some strange things in my lifetime."

"They turned me into a snail…"

Sarah blinked. His voice was muffled by his arms, so she may have misheard him. But, if she hadn't, why would he say that? It didn't make any sense.

"What?"

He lifted his head. "I said: they turned me into a snail."

"Are you messing with me? You know they can't do that, right? I mean, that's not even possible… Why even make that up?"

Nathan merely rolled his eyes. "I knew you wouldn't believe me." He glanced up at her curiously. "Mum already knows this, but I guess I could tell you as well. That is, if you can keep a secret…"

Sarah was confused; what was he going on about? First they were having a serious discussion about bullying, and then he goes on about snails and secrets. Was he merely having her on, here? He'd better not; cousin or not, there would be hell to pay if he was playing any stupid mind games with her. She started when he stood, pulling her up with him. Then he proceeded to drag her along with him along the street and around the corner. She was lucky that she'd managed to grab her purse in that short space of time.

"Nathan?" She murmured warily. "Where are we going?"

Her cousin ignored her and picked up the pace. It was such an abrupt change in his behavior, and the thought of it was unsettling. Her eyes widened when they rounded another corner leading into a short alleyway. He continued until they were halfway along. He stopped, causing Sarah to collide with him painfully. They stumbled forward a few steps until they caught their balance.

"Nathan, what's going on?"

He turned around, fully meeting her gaze. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a twig. She raised an eyebrow at it, but chose to say nothing.

"I'll prove it," Nathan said, holding up the stick with a look of concentration on his face. "At least I'm old enough now that I can do this…"

"Prove what?" Sarah asked, eyeing the stick suspiciously. "Have you been carrying that the whole time?"

"Yes," he said slowly, as if she were a small child. "Now watch…"

Nathan pointed the stick at a group of garbage cans that lined the brick wall nearest to them. Sarah was wondering about his sanity when he said some strange foreign word she didn't recognize, and one of the lids shot upwards. It twirled around in the air for a few moments before returning to its original spot. She gaped at it.

"Wha…?"

"Now do you get it?" His voice cut in, pulling her out of her daze. "And you can't tell anyone, either."

Sarah nodded weakly, sagging against the wall behind her. "How long?" She croaked.

"Since I was eleven," he sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"They told me not to."

"Who, those bullies you were talking about?"

"No," he replied, scuffing his foot against the concrete. "It –"

"Hello," an unfamiliar voice called out from the end of the alleyway. "Didn't think we'd meet you here, Smith."

Sarah peered over her cousin's shoulder. Who was this guy, and how did he know her cousin? Did they go to school together? Maybe he's one of those bullies Nathan told her about! Whoever it was, they were certainly taking their time. The guy's walk screamed arrogant, and she noticed that he wasn't alone, either. He was flanked by three other boys who appeared to be the same age as her cousin. The speaker was the tallest of the lot, with long dark hair that fell to his shoulders, a smirk fixed on his face.

"And who's this, a friend of yours?"

Nathan tensed up, staring at the ground. By the looks of things, Sarah guessed she was right again. Well, they won't treat her little cousin like that with her around! She straightened and glared at the group, unimpressed by the display.

"And who's asking?" She shot back, making no attempt to hide her annoyance. Who cares if they know? They started it, and she would end it!

The group ignored her, instead pulling out their own sticks and pointing them at her cousin.

"Leave my cousin out of this," Nathan muttered, raising his gaze to meet theirs. "She's a muggle, and doesn't know about it."

"They can do those things too?" Sarah blurted, staring at the twigs.

"Yes," Nathan replied. "And what I said before was true, you know…"

Sarah blinked. "They actually turned you into a snail? You mean a real, slimy, sluggish snail?"

He sighed, lowering his head in shame as the other boys snickered. "Yes, they did."

"You told a muggle about that, did you?" The dark haired boy called out. "You can't do that."

"And he proved it!" Sarah yelled. "You boys are despicable; aren't you too old to be picking on others like that? Completely immature."

One of the other boys stared at her, eyes wide in what seemed like recognition. Sarah had a strange feeling that he was almost checking her out. She certainly hoped not; that would be really weird, especially since they were all younger than her.

She still had no real clue what was going on, but she knew that she wouldn't let her cousin get himself pushed around by these boys ever again. The question was: how on earth was she going to get around the problem of what they could do with those sticks? She certainly had no inclination of becoming a snail, even if it was possible to change her back…

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_There you have it. This was done for the following:_

_Empress Empoleon's Color Competition: Yellow_

_Slytherin Cat's Weasley Wizard Wheezes Competition: Deflagration Deluxe_

_Lil'Miss Chris' Harry Potter Potions Competition: Boil Cure Potion_

_Eemmaatt33's The Philosopher's Stone Competition: Nicholas Flammel_

_Fire the Cannon's April Fanfiction Tournament: Round 1_

_Word count: 2095_

_Until next time, peace out!_

_Shadowcaster01_


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